The Eagles manager expressed his admiration for Ole Gunnar Solskjær's side and focussed in particular on their recent clashes with Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers, providing his own analytical view.
He said: "For teams like ourselves - and I've worked with teams like Fulham and West Brom who are in a similar position - Old Trafford has always been a very daunting place to go if you need a result. They are a top team and a very top club.
"I think like all clubs, when you go to Old Trafford it's an opportunity. It's a great occasion because that's a place every footballer wants to play. Every footballer in the world would like to play at Old Trafford. In that respect, it's a great occasion.
"We played them last season in Ole's second or third game. They were really very good. He'd just taken over and the team was in fine form. They were really flying, playing like they are at the moment. There was a tail-off towards the end of the season where they dropped a few points but I wasn't involved against them then. When I faced them, they were as quick to the ball, aggressive and sharp in their play as I've seen them in the last two games.
"I saw the game [against Chelsea]. Of course, in particular their first half performance was looking very good. They could quite easily have been in the lead until the penalty situation. But of course in the second half, you saw how good Manchester United can be. I watched the game against Wolves also and I thought in particular the first half - but even swathes of the second half - they played extremely well. They've had a good start to the season and their new players are showing why they've been bought and why the club and manager have decided to invest money in them."
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Turning his attention to one of the 'new players' in particular, Hodgson discussed former Palace man, Wan-Bissaka. Having handed the right-back his senior, professional debut, Hodgson praised the 21-year-old, saying: "I thought [Aaron] was excellent [in recent matches]. He's fitting in very well. I thought his performance in particular against Wolves was outstanding. We don't need reminding of how good he is because we were lucky enough to benefit from him being so good for a year and a half here."